ING Groep NV Reduces Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

ING Groep NV trimmed its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 25.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 218,917 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 75,504 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Amgen were worth $57,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AMGN. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 33,125.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,437,115,000 after acquiring an additional 4,446,757 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 6,812.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,523,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,130,610,000 after buying an additional 2,486,882 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Amgen by 561.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,539,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $496,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,982 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Amgen by 263.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,038,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $270,699,000 after purchasing an additional 753,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Amgen by 40.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,338,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $609,526,000 after purchasing an additional 676,598 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $294.27 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The firm has a market cap of $158.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.98, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $275.15 and a 200-day moving average of $300.77. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on AMGN shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Redburn Partners cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amgen Profile

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. The company's principal products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; XGEVA for skeletal-related events prevention; Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization; Nplate for the treatment of patients with immune thrombocytopenia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; EVENITY for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal for men and women; Vectibix to treat patients with wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer; BLINCYTO for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia; TEPEZZA to treat thyroid eye disease; and KRYSTEXXA for the treatment of chronic refractory gout.